Chess

Chess

By Robert Byrne

Published: March 11, 1997

There is not supposed to be any luck in chess, but there is. Where would the winner of the 59th Hoogoven International Tournament in Wijk-aan-Zee, the Netherlands, Valery Salov, have finished without his opponents' blunders? ''I simply made some reasonable moves,'' he said, ''and kept an eye on my opponent's mistakes.''

Salov, a former Russian star who now lives in Spain, lost his queen to Viktor Korchnoi but found a situation in which he confused his opponent into a draw. That was in the last round and the outcome of that game amounted to first place for the 26-year-old grandmaster. Other opponents made even greater blunders and lost game after game to Salov, who profited by a score of 8 1/2-3 1/2.

He made no bones about it: ''I was, of course, totally lost against Korchnoi, but at the end, his mistakes rescued me.''

Second place in the tourney, which finished in early February, was shared by Jeroen Piket of the Netherlands, Aleksandr Onitschuk of Ukraine and Ivan Sokolov of Bosnia, who scored 8-4.

In the fifth round, the usually redoubtable Alexei Yermolinsky, United States champion, contributed a point to Salov's prize fund.

The contra-English Opening defense that Black sets up after 11 . . . d6 resembles a Maroczy bind in that White controls a preponderance of space in the center with his c and e pawns. But Black has an e6 pawn that denies White the use of d5 for a knight outpost. The setup may appear passive, but is so in the way that barbed wire is.

After 20 cd ed, Yermolinsky should have played 21 Nf5. For example, 21 . . . Bc5 22 Bc5 bc 23 Qd2 d4 24 Qg5 g6 25 Na4 creates a complex situation in which the outcome is unclear. Instead, he opened the e line with 21 ed?, where his queen and queen bishop were placed uncomfortably.

Salov sprang into action at once with 21 . . . Ba3! 22 Rc2 Rc3! 23 Rc3 Nd5 24 Rd3 Nc5!, first sacrificing rook for knight and then forcing its return with heightened powers for the black pieces.

Yermolinsky could not get out of a pin by 25 Qf2 because 25 . . . Nd3 26 Rd3 Ne3 27 Re3 Bc5 creates a new diagonal pin that will win material.

After 27 . . . Bd5, he was still constricted; 28 Nf3 Re3 29 Re3 Qe8 30 Kf2 (or 30 Ne5 f6) Qe4!? would have created a situation excruciatingly difficult for White to defend and Yermolinsky wanted no part of it. His 28 Nf5, however, gave Salov rook for knight after 28 . . . Be4 29 Bc5 Bd3 30 Qd3 bc and a technical ending emerged.

Although Yermolinsky struggled hard to keep the black queen and rook at bay, after 41 . . . Rd8!, Salov's rook prepared for a decisive entrance into the battle.